Fairy Tales are not Reality

warning: content contains scenes of blood and gore

!disclaimer: the chapter is not specifically about any specific disorder and I, the author, am not an expert or see myself as such on mental disorders!

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Fairy tale: 'a children's story about magical and imaginary beings and lands; a fairy story.'

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Yu Yan panted. She had been practicing her ass off on her air manipulation skills, according to the harsh training Ye Zhao had experience in the original book.

'Respect is given...I don't even know how he could endure this…'

She had purchased books with the martial arts stances Mages used for offensive attacks, and had even gotten a wooden stick sword.

Belluse frowned. "No, Your Majesty, you just have to tilt your feet a bit…Yes, that's it."

Yu Yan felt as if she were doing magic yoga. She had never been extremely athletic, so her legs had been so stiff that she fell multiple times.

'Fuc-' Just as she moved her feet according to Belluse's instructions, her limbs failed and the world span. She fell to the ground with a thud.

"Ow."

"Your Majesty?!"

---

"No, Renee, move the flowers over there. A little bit over to the left...That's perfect."

Yu Yan was walking around armed with a scroll, a sort-of clipboard, and a quill pen, micromanaging the preparations festivities.

It was the night before the Festival, and two months had passed since the nobles' last visit. Preparing for the town gala was the administrator's job, and it was a frenzy Yu Yan had prepped for as soon as she knew about its existence.

"Whoa, Administrator, you have an eye for these things."

Renee looked at the flower arrangement she had just placed with approval.

Rook's town square, which was usually home to its marketplace, had been cleared out. Garlands of Elevyarian gladerre flowers, white stars that resembled Earth's gladiolus, were wrapped around columns and chairs, filling the air with its scent. Yu Yan had mainly doodled the decoration plan and Belluse had filled in the rest.

"The credit mostly goes to Lucia," Yu Yan said warmly, and instantly Renee's expression stiffened.

'Aiya, do they have beef?'

"Renee?" Yu Yan asked, prodding her.

Renee was Alessia's assistant, and the daughter of the owner of a bookshop that Yu Yan frequented. She was only a year younger than Yu Yan, and had a round, oval-shaped face with pretty blonde hair. Yu Yan had a good relationship with her, and she was usually very amicable. Yu Yan slowly realized that Renee was looking past her shoulder, and she turned.

Renee's gaze was towards a handsome young stranger in black.

The stranger looked like a prince in a fairy tale, with dark chocolate hair and long lashes that framed sapphire eyes. His features were neither delicate, nor angular, yet otherworldly; if Yu Yan were an artist, she was sure she would've whipped out her sketchbook then and there. Thankfully, the town square was empty, as Renee and Yu Yan had stayed behind for the finishing touches. Otherwise, his looks would've caused an uproar.

Lips that resembled pink blossoms, and light caramel skin like porcelain that blended against the night sky. He was dressed in somewhat luxurious yet simple clothes, and his left hand had on a ring with a familiar insignia.

'A hawk?'

Yu Yan blinked.

Renee's expression looked like the earth had just split into two.

Just before Yu Yan could match the insignia to the family, the stranger's lips parted.

"Renee, I'm back."

The stranger sounded somewhat sad, and regretful, and neither at the same time.

He sounded like one of those protagonists in romance novels - the childhood best friend that had returned after betraying the lead.

But, Yu Yan could feel no sincerity in his words.

She didn't know when lying had become second nature to her, but it had.

Detecting the nuances between words was vital to being able to manipulate them - Yu Yan wouldn't go as far as to say that she was a master liar, but she was a good one.

It was as if he was faking regret.

He was hiding behind it.

Renee collapsed forward, running towards the stranger and hitting him with a loud 'pak.'

The slap echoed across the empty village square.

Yu Yan flinched.

'Wah, that must've hurt.'

Hearing Renee's sniffles, Yu Yan made the executive decision of tucking the clipboard under her arm and discreetly edging away from the scene.

It was strange.

Rather than comforting her, the stranger looked as if Renee was a chore he didn't want to do.

As if feeling Yu Yan's glance, the stranger looked up, and met her eyes.

They were emotionless.

----

'Zhao Renjun' had been the name given to him by his half-Resilian mother.

But, he was more known by the name he went by in Elevyar, Aidann de Rella.

The Duke Rella's eldest son.

Aidann hadn't been born with the ability to feel emotions.

To be more exact, he couldn't feel the feeling called 'love.'

Regret. Hate. Longing. Admiration.

Aidann couldn't feel any of it. This was a fact.

Of course, he could feel the little conscience tugging at the back of his head, reminding him that, possibly, what he was doing was wrong.

But he never listened to it. It only got in his way.

It started with a dragonfly.

The Rella garden was lush, full of blooming foliage and flowers. Butterflies, bees, and dragonflies were common among the bushes and blooms.

When he was young, Aidann was strolling through the garden, evading his maids, when he saw a dragonfly. Aidann was gifted with natural reflexes, so he caught it. It had been an experiment.

Would he be able to feel pity for it?

He grabbed it with his three-year-old fists. Looking at it trembling in his left hand, his right hand reached out towards the gossamer wings. It was pretty, a shimmering metallic green. Fairy-like wings. Delicate. His fingers closed over one of the thin flaps. And, as easily as he was tearing paper, he tore it off. The dragonfly immediately started trembling more, in pain, or fear, Aidann didn't know which. After all, he couldn't feel any of it.

'Ah. This is what they call, wrong, isn't it?'

Aidann titled his head at the vibrating dragonfly.

However, he couldn't feel a sliver of emotion. It was just a wingless dragonfly. Nothing more, nothing less. He was tempted to crush it in his hands.

So he did.

His chubby fingers folded over the insect. When his clenched fist opened, Aidann blinked.

The dragonfly's body had crumpled, and stopped vibrating. It was dead.

Three-year-old Aidann had known something wasn't right.

'It's just...dead.'

He was disappointed.

The experiment continued when the assassin came.

The hooded figure had climbed into his room at night. The maids usually kept watch, even during midnight, so Aidann was never alone. He was woken by a scream, on his fourteenth birthday.

Aidann opened his eyes and saw the maid dead on the floor, a figure with a knife over her.

The maid's face was contorted into a gruesome scream, blood pooling out from under her body. The same scarlet liquid was reflected on the assassin's dagger, and speckled throughout the room.

'Oh. The carpet'll get stained.'

Aidann looked up, into the assassin's eyes under the moonlight, the figure against the translucent curtains. The eyes were knife-like, but contained confusion at Aidann's calmness. The scene, complete with the dark bloody streaks against the walls, reminded Aidann of a painting.

'I should draw it later.'

The assassin was caught later, but his father and mother had gradually realized that Aidann's behavior wasn't ordinary.

"Monster."

That was the word that Aidann heard most, from his parents.

Once, he had run away. To a small town, named Rook.

There, he had met a child only one year younger. A small girl, by the name of Renee.

Of course, Renee had discovered his identity when Aidann had been taken back by the guards. But Renee hadn't treated him any differently.

'Huh. How peculiar.'

That peculiarity had driven him to keep meeting with her, to see if the girl Renee would treat her any differently.

She was a test subject, of sorts.

Aidann once had pushed her into a river. Renee had forgiven him.

He kept pushing her boundaries, to see just how peculiar she was. She had fallen harder and harder.

Until they grew up, and one day she confessed.

'How unusual.'

Aidann had blinked.

He had known from a young age that he couldn't feel the same love that Renee had for him. Her confession was more of a pet confessing her love. It was intriguing, so he had accepted.

Renee had then burst into tears, and Aidann realized that he was now expected to say words he didn't mean, to slip on a mask, to be tender and caring. When Renee was sad, he was expected to be there for comfort. When Renee was happy, he was expected to be happy for her.

'So that was how relationships worked.'

Aidann got better, and better, and Renee fell deeper, and deeper.

Until one day, his father addressed the issue.

"That commoner girl, you've been seeing."

The Duke Rella frowned.

"You should stop. You don't even feel anything for her. Stop playing with the commoners. Toys should be put away, in the end."

A pause.

"Alright."

The last time Aidann had seen Renee, he had made up a sob story about how the Duke was separating the two. Lying really was quite easy. At least, he had thought so.

But this time, she had figured it out.

"You're lying, Aidann."

'How did she know?'

"You were never sincere, were you?"

Renee was angry.

'Why?'

In the end, they separated.

And he was back again. He hadn't turned over a new leaf. He hadn't decided to change out of nowhere. He was just...bored? Was that the word? He had nothing to do, other than fight for the position he had little interest in. So he had returned, to the familiar Rook. And he was faced with an angry slap.

And an unfamiliar gaze.

As Aidann embraced the crying Renee, he met the gaze of a graceful-looking administrator. A regal air.

Aidann had always been adept in reading people.

'A knife.'

That was what the girl reminded him of. A gaze so sharp it could cut glass. A dagger-like aura, that could pierce through everything, even his lies. Dark hair, pale Resilian features. And those eyes...he had a feeling she could tell. She was either of the same kind, or similar.

After consoling Renee with another bout of false words, he said he would return tomorrow.

And she did. But, the next day, she approached him, at the gala. The knife.

Aidann was holding a glass of wine, lounging at the corner. He had collected several stares, but he didn't mind them.

'Insects.'

"You...are hiding." Her words were simple, but not.

"You could tell." Aidann's voice was cold, emotionless.

'It's almost refreshing, to take off the mask.'

"You hide behind a mask. You're an interesting person."

"You are too, knife."

"Knife?" The girl laughed. "I suppose you could call me that."

Her demeanor changed, relaxing into a lazy aura that contrasted with the knife-like mask she had donned earlier, but the threatening feeling didn't disappear.

"A knife, after all, has two sides," she mused. She turned towards Aidann, leaning against the pillar like he did. "You...are a strange person."

Aidann tilted his head.

"Are you going to tell me not to hurt Renee?"

"If you're going to hurt her, then hurt her. If you won't, then don't." The girl shrugged. She met Aidann's eyes. Hers were cold. She said, to herself, "Am I over the right line right now? Huh. Interesting. I wonder what I look like right now."

"You have lines, too," Aidan observed.

"Mines may be different from yours." She smiled. "I can cross back and forth, unlike most. I prefer not to deal with people with different lines. Like you. Your lines don't matter to you."

"Mmm. I guess so." Aidann turned. "You can enjoy things."

"Yes, I can enjoy things," she agreed.

A pause.

"What's your real name?" he asked, curiously.

"My current one?"

"I said real," Aidann replied, sipping his drink.

"My real, or a real?" After observing his irritated expression, she laughed. "Yu Yan. That is my name. But do call me Ingrid Signia."

"Yu Yan." Aidann mulled over this new fact.

He reached a hand out, towards the knife...no, Yu Yan. He never liked physical contact, but he felt curious about whether she would actually prick him. Surprisingly, she felt normal. A bit icier than the average person, and a bit coarser than Renee, but normal nonetheless.

"Some call me Zhao Renjun," he said, shaking her hand. "Call me Aidann de Rella."

"All right then." She sipped her wine, withdrawing her hand.

Aidann paused, again.

"You said you wonder what you look like when you cross your line." He blinked, looking at the sky. "You look dangerous."

She raised an eyebrow. "Do I look like a knife?"

"No. More like the person who wields it."

"Huh."

She didn't sound offended. Aiming a playful punch at his shoulder, she smiled.

"Good to know. It's scarier when you know that monsters are human."

She sounded like she was just joking, and she probably was; but, for some reason, the smile unnerved Aidann.